Arguing that the death penalty should not be used because rich people can get out of it is like arguing that imprisonment or fines should be abolished for the same reason. No system, devised by man, can ever be perfect. But, we should endeavor to bring as much justice to the justice system as possible. In today’s world justice is neither swift nor sure. Criminals usually have long rap sheets before they get any time behind bars. A fifty year old man who rapes and murders a child can be assured of dying of old age, or by the hands of his fellow criminals, even in a state where they kill such monsters.

There was a time when prison was not punishment but a place where a convict awaited punishment. Maybe we need to get back to that. If petty criminals were displayed in stocks at the mall and drug dealers required to work on chain gangs in their old neighborhoods perhaps crime would be less attractive. Shame and humiliation are powerful social tools, maybe we should start using them again.

We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.